Chaetomium globosum endo-1,4-β-xylanase (XylCg) is distinguished from other xylanases by its high turnover rate (1,860 s−1), the highest ever reported for fungal xylanases. One conserved amino acid, W48, in the substrate binding pocket of wild-type XylCg was identified as an important residue affecting XylCg's catalytic efficiency.